HK market edges to 13 year high

With an influx of hot money and historically low mortgage interest rates, the Hong Kong property market is heating up. But just how hot is it? The case of an apartment that has just changed hands for HK$5,900 a square foot gives a good illustration.

It is a Home Ownership Scheme flat in Shau Kei Wan. The 829 sq ft flat in Block B of Tung Yuk Court sold for HK$4.89m in January.

Property agency Centaline says it is the highest price for such a flat since the peak of the market in 1997.

Some agencies are predicting that this year or next could be the one when prices finally climb over that peak after languishing for 13 years amid successive financial crises and the Sars epidemic.